University of Porto (U.Porto) | Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (FPCEUP) | Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE)

The University of Porto is a leading public research university with over 110 years of history, dedicated to the creation, transmission, and dissemination of knowledge in the service of society. Guided by values of academic freedom, scientific rigour, social responsibility, inclusion, and innovation, U.Porto promotes high-quality teaching and research while fostering critical thinking and ethical engagement. Its mission emphasises the role of the university as a driver of cultural, scientific, and social development, both nationally and internationally. 

U.Porto is a strongly internationalised and globally connected institution, maintaining extensive partnerships with universities and research centres worldwide. It actively promotes international mobility for students, academic staff, and researchers, and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation-oriented research. The university combines a solid humanistic tradition with a clear commitment to technological development and societal challenges, including education, equity, and digital transformation. 

Within this institutional framework, the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto (FPCEUP) has played a central role in teacher education, educational research, and professional training over the last 45 years. FPCEUP is dedicated to the scientific study of education, learning, development, and teaching practices across the lifespan, with a particular focus on the social, ethical, and epistemological dimensions of educational processes. 

Participation in the SmartStart Academy is performed by the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE), a Research & Development unit centre of FPCEUP, which is supported by the Portuguese Research Funding Agency (FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation. Founded in 1988, CIIE has, over several decades, established itself as a national and international reference centre for research in lifelong education across multiple educational and social contexts. Its activity focuses on the development of high-quality research on key educational issues, combining scientific rigour, innovation and social impact, with a clear commitment to the democratic transformation of education and society. CIIE is widely recognised as a centre of excellence for researching, innovating and inspiring change in education, always in close collaboration with and for educational communities.